Saturday, November 2, 2013

47. Musee de Cluny

The Musée national du Moyen Age ( National Museum of the Middle Ages ) - formerly Musée de Cluny - houses a variety of important medieval artifacts, in particular its tapestry collection, which includes the fifteenth century tapestry cycleLa Dame à la Licorne ( The Lady and the Unicorn ).

Front entrance to the Musee - rusty wheelbarrow was not a feature of the museum - council workers were on a coffee break !!

This
structure - partially constructed on the remains of Gallo-Roman baths dating
from the third century - is perhaps the most outstanding example still extant
of civic architecture in medieval Paris. It was formerly the town house of the
abbots of Cluny, started in 1334, however the residence was taken over in 1485
by Jacques d'Amboise, Bishop of Clermont and Abbot of Jumièges. Occupants of
the house over the years have included Mary Tudor, the sister of Henry VIII of
England. She was installed here after the death of her husband Louis XII by his
successor Francis I of France in 1515; Francis wished to monitor Mary closely,
particularly to see if she was pregnant. Seventeenth-century occupants included
several papal nuncios.

In 1793 the building was confiscated by the state, and for the next three decades served several functions. At one point it was owned by a physician who used the magnificent Flamboyant chapel on the first floor as a dissection room.

In
1833 Alexandre du Sommerard moved here and installed his large collection of
medieval and Renaissance objects. Upon his death in 1842 the collection was purchased
by the state and the building was opened as a museum in 1843.

Beautiful stone and marble works dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries ..

The Musée de Cluny houses a variety of important medieval artifacts, in
particular its tapestry collection, which includes the fifteenth century
tapestry cycle La Dame à la Licorne (The
Lady and the Unicorn). Also on display is the horn
of a Unicorn … a two metre length of ivory … couldn’t see any joins – so maybe it is for real !!! …The unicorn
does however feature in many of the hanging tapestries ...

One of the many tapestries featuring the Lady and the Unicorn from the 15th Century

descending down into the ancient Roman baths

... and altar pieces in ivory

corner stone ...

Marble sculpture of the Presentation at the Temple - Burgundy, late 14th century